Italian East Africa

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Italian East Africa (Italian: Africa Orientale Italiana, A.O.I.) was a colonial administrative entity of the Kingdom of Italy in the Horn of Africa that existed from 1936 to 1941. It was proclaimed by Benito Mussolini on 1 June 1936, following the conquest and annexation of Ethiopia during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War. It encompassed Italian Somaliland, Italian Eritrea (both Italian possessions since 1880s) and the Ethiopian territories, all administered by a single administrative unit, the Governo Generale dell'Africa Orientale Italiana. The colony was divided into six governorates: Eritrea, Somalia, Harar, Galla-Sidamo, Amhara and Scioa. The new colonial administration sought to consolidate Italian rule through infrastructure development, settlement policies, and administrative centralization. Urban planning projects, road construction, and public works were promoted as symbols of imperial modernization. Italian rule combined centralized authority with policies designed to weaken the...

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